2026-09-20T06:50:28Zhttps://dspace.mit.edu/server/oai/requestoai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/1056692022-01-13T07:54:05Zcom_1721.1_7582com_1721.1_7581col_1721.1_131024
Anette Hosoi.
Steinhardt, Emma Marie
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
2016-12-05T19:57:18Z
2016-12-05T19:57:18Z
2016
2016
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/105669
964448499
Thesis: S.B., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2016.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 53-54).
A model was developed for measuring the drag and effects of inertia for a cyclist during a race. Professional cyclist data from the Tour de France was acquired for several athletes. The data contained elevation, distance, velocity, and power as a function of time. Rolling resistance, drag, inertial energy, and potential energy were then evaluated. An integral energy equation relating these terms to input power was developed. This is much more stable numerically than differential equations in the power and force equations. This formula gave excellent agreement with the theoretical assumption that inertial effects are negligible. Additionally, the measured drag agreed with wind tunnel results. This work is the first to extract drag data from a cyclist during actual race conditions. In the future, this evaluation of drag variation coupled with energy equations could lead to optimizing cycling strategy.
by Emma Marie Steinhardt.
S.B.
54 pages
eng
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.
http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582
Mechanical Engineering.
Energy methods for analyzing drag and inertia in cycling kinematics
Thesis
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Publication
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<Abstract>A model was developed for measuring the drag and effects of inertia for a cyclist during a race. Professional cyclist data from the Tour de France was acquired for several athletes. The data contained elevation, distance, velocity, and power as a function of time. Rolling resistance, drag, inertial energy, and potential energy were then evaluated. An integral energy equation relating these terms to input power was developed. This is much more stable numerically than differential equations in the power and force equations. This formula gave excellent agreement with the theoretical assumption that inertial effects are negligible. Additionally, the measured drag agreed with wind tunnel results. This work is the first to extract drag data from a cyclist during actual race conditions. In the future, this evaluation of drag variation coupled with energy equations could lead to optimizing cycling strategy.</Abstract>
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